Afghan banks closed in line with UN resolution: Official

ISLAMABAD (NNI): Pakistan has closed Afghan banks as all UN member countries are bound to implement the world bodys resolutions, Pakistans special envoy on Afghanistan, Iftikhar Murshid said.

"Under the sanctions that have been imposed by the UN Security Council, the member countries are bound to take such steps and the government of Pakistan has also taken this step," Murshid, Additional Secretary in Pakistan Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with BBC.

Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar in a recent interview with IRNA said Pakistan has closed Afghan banks and frozen Taliban accounts following UN sanctions on Afghanistan.

The Pakistani government has ordered the closure of two banks of Taliban that were functioning in Peshawar. Two days ago, Kuwait also froze the bank accounts of the Taliban.

The UN Security Council slapped US-sponsored economic sanctions on the war-torn Afghanistan last month after Taliban refused to turn over Osama bin Laden for trial to a third country.

Murshid said Pakistan has made the decision in principle to close Afghan banks and would take the step when the situation becomes clear as to whom these banks belong to.

Asked if Pakistan held prior discussions with Taliban, Murshid said that Taliban know that they are bound to take such steps under the UN Security Council sanctions.

About the impacts of their relations with Taliban, Iftikhar Murshid said that these were not major banks and were just offices for customs affairs adding that relations with Taliban would remain the same like the past. He said that there has been no change in Pakistans policy on Afghanistan after military coup.

He said Pakistan policy on Afghanistan is aimed at restoring a testing peace in Afghanistan. He said Islamabad has called for the establishment of a multi-ethnic, broad based and representative government in Afghanistan. A similar stand, he said, had been adopted by the "six plus two group" in New York on July 20 following its meeting in Tashkent.

He said that he can say they Pakistans policy on Afghanistan is first to restore durable peace in Afghanistan and in the second step, from a multi-ethnic, broad based and representative government in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Afghanistan.

Murshid was asked that would they support the northern alliance because the broad based government in Afghanistan could not be formed without the participation of the anti-Taliban northern alliance, he said this is not their job to support one or other group. He said that they have been trying for the last nearly three years and are still making efforts to encourage and convince the Afghan warring factions for talks because only Afghans can decide as to what kind of government they want. "We can just persuade and invite them for negotiations and reconciliation".